Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Those little neon (?) lights that plug into an AC outlet so you know that the outlet has power?

I've been told that G.E. has discontinued them. We use them in Alaska on our extension cords (along with a cube tap) so we know that when we plug in our cars in cold weather that the outlet is actually working.

If anyone knows of a source for these, or has any of them kicking around in a junk drawer somewhere and would part with them, I'd be grateful.

tanstaafl.

Is it just a tester or is it something that remains attached to the cord the whole time and the car plugs in through it?

I do know that you can get extension cords that have a light built into them so that you can see that there's power. (The Coleman yellow ones with the clear plugs are the ones I'm thinking of.) Don't know about an additional device.

A cheapo LED nightlight not work?

Like this?

Wait, are you talking about one of those things like the thing on the right in this picture, with the two leads and the little pulsing red light at the end?



If so, just get one of the things in the middle. It's easier to use, safer, and gives you more information. They're still only $5.

I don't know about ones that plug into the end- but I have seen extension cords with neon bulbs in them so you have a visual cue when they are powered. Maybe you could still find one of those?

s it just a tester or is it something that remains attached to the cord the whole time and the car plugs in through it?

No, it's... imagine if you took a lamp cord, cut the wire flush with the plug. The plug would then be about the size and general appearance of the G.E. glow light. It's just a tiny neon light built onto a 110 vac plug, you just plug it into an outlet (or in my case, one of the sides of a cube tap on the end of an extension cord) and it sits there and glows happily for a few years before it wears out.

I do know that you can get extension cords that have a light built into them

Yes, I have one of those that I keep in the car when I have to plug in someplace other than at work. At work, I have a semi-permanently installed extension cord that stays attached to the building, with a cube tap on it. Unfortunately, it does not have the built-in indicator.

If I can't come up with one of the neat little G.E. lights, I'll just spend a couple of bucks and buy a cheap night light. It will use about 20 times the electricity (10 watts vs 1/2 watt) which means it will cost my employer the better part of 17 cents a week (figuring 10 cents/KWH). When you consider that they are running three 50,000 watt transmitters and one 25,000 watt transmitter 24 hours a day, I guess I can slip my 10 watt night light in under the radar...

Big problem, though, is bulb life. That night light bulb won't run four or five years like the little glow lights.

tanstaafl.

An LED or a vastly underpowered incandescent bulb would last virtually forever. Seems like you could buy a replacement AC plug, a small rectifier and an LED and build yourself one for about $3 that would last longer. RadioShack also sells neon bulbs.

How about just shortening an extension cord with an indicator to a foot or two and permanently attaching it onto the end of your car's cord? Then you'd have a glowing indicator everywhere you plugged in. I would assume a dead plug is fairly rare, so losing the ability to tell if it's dead till before you plugged in wouldn't cause you too much trouble.

Matthew

Here is a picture of my last remaining glow light.



It's such a simple, economical solution, I really didn't want to have to get more complicated and expensive.

Sigh...

tanstaafl.

Maybe they'd last longer if you stopped burying them in salted compost heaps.

Maybe they'd last longer if you stopped burying them in salted compost heaps.


If you only knew the conditions that poor little thing lives in... it has been hanging out on the front bumper of my plow truck for at least ten, possibly 15 years.

It's amazing that it looks as good as it does!

tanstaafl.

Well, then, it sounds like you definitely ought to build your own and then encase it in epoxy.

Yes Yes. Then the lamp could be routed inside maybe just behind the windshield?

I would agree it might be useful to rig up some customs leads and boxes using off-the-shelf parts

You miss the point, here.

I do not want to make a project out of this. I just want to buy the little two-pack of glow-lights for $1.59, and stick one of them into the cube tap on the end of my extension cord.

NAPA sells an in-line light (the same thing that's built in to the "lighted" extension cords discussed above) for a couple of bucks, I'll just get one of those and plug it into my cube tap.

On the very remote chance that anyone is interested... I won't use it in-line, because it is made of some sort of rubbery plastic stuff that turns rock hard at any temperature much below zero, and is very difficult to plug into. My cube tap is the hard plastic variety and plugs/unplugs quite easily -- just like plugging something into a wall socket. It is epoxied onto the end of the extension cord that is semi-permanently plugged into the wall at work.

I'm kind of surprised that nobody was familiar with the little G.E. glow lights -- I was halfway hoping that someone here would have a couple kicking around that they'd part with. But I guess it's kind of an Alaskan thing.

tanstaafl.

Any sign of a part number on that???

Wow, haven't seen one of those in like twenty years!

--Nathan

Any sign of a part number on that???


Oh, yeah! It says 120vac 1/4w.

Oh, wait....



tanstaafl.

Lookie what I found at the local discount store:

Lookie what I found at the local discount store:


Ooohhh... Will you sell them to me? Hunh? Hunh?

tanstaafl.

Yeah, they had 5 packs left. I bought them all speculating you wanted them. If you need more than that, the store has multiple locations. I can scope out the other ones...

Well done, Rob!

Yeah, they had 5 packs left. I bought them all speculating you wanted them. If you need more than that, the store has multiple locations. I can scope out the other ones...

Those may well be the last five packs left in the world!

Your speculation was accurate! That will be a lifetime supply (and then some!) for me!

Thanks very much, Rob!

tanstaafl.

Although you have found some replactments, I did e-mail G.E. a while back and just today received this reply:

Quote:
Hello Tuomas,

Thank you for contacting Jasco Products Company.

The guide lights in your link are no longer available. However, GE has
a newer version, Mini guide Lights (2-pack), product code 50996.

You may want to contact our sales department for purchasing assistance
at [email protected]

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Sales
Dept. at 1-800-654-8483 option 3.

If you need further assistance, you can contact us
by e-mail at [email protected]
phone at 1-800-654-8483 option 4,
Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CST.
To respond, please select "Reply" in your e-mail software, and be sure
that the past e-mail is included in this reply.

Thank you,
JASCO Products

Hope that helps if you really end up needing some for friends or family.

Available online here.

I bought them all speculating you wanted them




WuHahahahahaha.... they're mine I tell you, all MINE...

tanstaafl.

This has to be one of the most bizzar forums on the web!